Ford and Lincoln confirm absence in 2015 Super Bowl

Ford and Lincoln will be among the carmakers deciding to pass on advertising during the broadcast of the Super Bowl. So far, only six brands -- BMW, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Toyota -- are expected to advertise during the big game while others have yet to confirm or declare plans. Eleven auto brands ran spots in the 2014 edition of the Super Bowl.

That year, Ford aired a pre-game commercial to push the Ford Fusion hybrid. On the other hand, Lincoln’s last spot in the big game was in 2013, when it allowed the Twitter community to “steer the script” through suggestions of how the ad should play out.

Matt VanDyke, director of global Lincoln, told Automotive News in November 2014 that the American luxury carmaker will not advertise in the 2015 Super Bowl, even though it has launched several high-profile campaigns in recent years.

VanDyke noted that while Super Bowl’s massive audience is attractive, the Lincoln’s launch plans for 2015 does not justify spending millions of dollars on an ad for the upcoming event. Ge added that Lincoln regards the Super Bowl as not the “area of time where we need to focus this year."

According to Ace Metrix, a TV and video analytics firm, auto ads accounted for over 30 percent of Super Bowl advertising air time in the five years.

Super Bowl XLIX – or 2015 Super Bowl will be the deciding for determining the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The big game will have the champion of the American Football Conference (AFC) challenge the champion of the National Football Conference (NFC). Super Bowl XLIX will be played on February 1, 2015 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Donna Boland confirmed last year that the German premium carmaker has already purchased a slot for the event. The last time Mercedes-Benz appeared in the Super Bowl was in 2013. Boland remarked that Mercedes only advertises in the big game when it has something specific to promote.

Ads for the Super Bowl usually cost millions of dollars. This is because the Super Bowl is one of the most watched annual sporting events in the world, with an average of more than 100 million people from the US alone tuned into the Super Bowl broadcast.

Companies across a number of industries have found the Super Bowl a very good platform to advertise their products or services. Last year, the Super Bowl was the most watched TV program in history after gaining 111.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.